Hitachi Energy Will Build a $528 Million Transformer Plant in Mississippi

Hitachi Energy will build a $528 million power transformer factory in Gallman, Mississippi, the company and the state announced Sept. 15. It is Hitachi Energy's largest single investment in the United States. Construction is scheduled to begin later in 2026, and transformer production is set to start in 2029. "Demand for electricity is growing rapidly, and the grid must grow with it," Hitachi Energy CEO Andreas Schierenbeck said.

The plant will sit in the Copiah County Industrial Park, about 6.5 miles from Hitachi Energy's existing Crystal Springs factory, which employs 475 people building small power transformers. The new building will be more than twice the size of Crystal Springs and will more than double the company's Mississippi transformer output. Units will range from 10 to 160 MVA at voltages up to 230 kV. The Mississippi Development Authority counts 654 new jobs; Hitachi Energy puts the figure at more than 700 permanent positions. State support comes through the Mississippi Flexible Tax Incentive program, with the MDA and Copiah County assisting on site development and infrastructure.

Gallman is one piece of roughly $1.5 billion in U.S. manufacturing expansion Hitachi Energy has committed, alongside a $457 million plant in South Boston, Virginia, due to operate by 2028, a $106 million transformer components factory in Alamo, Tennessee, expected by mid-2027, and a $70 million expansion across three Pennsylvania facilities. The company cites McKinsey & Company projections that U.S. power demand will grow more than 3% a year through 2040, driven by advanced manufacturing and AI data centers. The new capacity is aimed at a backlog measured in years. Wood Mackenzie's second-quarter 2025 survey put average lead times at 128 weeks for power transformers and 144 weeks for generator step-up units.

Transformers rated 10 to 160 MVA at up to 230 kV are the class that fills utility distribution substations and the customer-owned substations serving data center campuses, semiconductor fabs, and large industrial plants. On those jobs, the transformer delivery date sets the schedule for everything downstream of it: medium-voltage feeders, switchgear lineups, protective relaying, grounding, and the testing and commissioning that must finish before energization. None of the Gallman output will reach a jobsite before 2029, so projects breaking ground this year are still competing for slots in the existing queue.

The factory also adds a large industrial employer to the Jackson metro's southern edge. Building a plant of this size calls for commercial and industrial electrical crews on service entrance, distribution, and process power once construction starts. After it opens, transformer manufacturing depends on in-house electricians and technicians to maintain production equipment and run high-voltage test bays. Hitachi Energy says Crystal Springs will shift to warehousing and training once production moves to Gallman.

The transformer shortage will not be solved in Copiah County. But 2029 is now a firm date for another tranche of substation-class supply, and the electrical work to build it starts first.